Chapter 29
Elariya
“The Price of Mercy”
Iwas walking in darkness.
Deep, heavy darkness. The kind that pressed against your skin and filled your lungs with every breath.
Breath?
Gods, I was so terrified I wasn’t sure I was breathing.
I was underground. That much I knew.
The air tasted stale, like it had been trapped here for centuries. And it felt... expectant. Like the darkness itself was waiting for something.
And watching. It was just as eerie as the sensation I’d gotten back at the house in the Land of the Dead.
I’d been down here for what? Fifteen minutes at least. And whatever had laughed at me on my way in hadn’t made itself known.
I’d been trying to summon even the smallest flicker of light with magic.
But nothing came.
I tried again, pushing harder, grasping at the threads of power that should have been there.
Nothing.
“Lumiere lundai,” I whispered to the darkness. “Please work.”
"You’re wasting your time." A voice came from behind me, calm, amused, and far too close.
I spun around, my heart hammering.
But there was only darkness.
"Welcome, little mage. " The voice came again. This time, it curled around me, dripping with amusement. Taunting. Like a cat toying with something small and helpless.
My skin crawled, a million spiders finding purchase in every nerve in my body.
The darkness shifted.
Something moved within it like smoke taking form.
A figure emerged.
A man. Or something wearing the shape of one.
He was at least eight feet tall, lean, and draped in a cloak that seemed woven from the darkness. His face remained hidden beneath a deep hood, nothing visible except the sharp line of a pointed chin.
Then he reached up and lowered the hood.
Long white hair spilled over his shoulders. His face was almost human. Almost. Like something had tried to mimic humanity and gotten it terribly wrong.
Skin stretched too tightly over the bones, his mouth curved with malice. But it was his eyes that made my blood run cold.
They were red. Red like blood.
He stepped closer.
"Allow me to introduce myself." The voice matched his form now. Smooth and dripping with false courtesy. "I am Erethis. I’m a spatial demon.”
A demon.
Blessed Mother. I’d never encountered one of those before. From what I’d read, they were all dangerous.
And spatial?
What did that mean? I had no idea. And I wasn’t going to ask.
Erethis tilted his head, studying me like I was something curious. And amusing.
"I answered your call and saved you.”
My lips parted. I didn’t know what he was talking about. “What…call? I never called anybody.”
He narrowed those haughty red eyes and looked me up and down.
“Well, I heard you. Heard your thoughts of terror.
I pulled you away from those Fae males. It would turn your insides out if you knew what they were going to do to you.
" He smiled, an incongruent reaction to what he’d just said. "Which means, little mage, you owe me."
Shit. Now I understood the smile. “Owe you?”
“Yes, owe me.”
I could be snarky and tell him I didn’t ask to be saved, but I knew he was right. I knew those assholes set out to ruin me, and I never had the energy to do more damage than I’d done. I wouldn’t have been able to save myself.
But damn it, that didn’t mean I wanted to owe a demon. And what did I owe him? “Can’t you just accept my deepest gratitude? I am thankful for the rescue. Had you not come along, I don’t know what would have happened to me.”
His laugh revealed sharp, needle-like teeth. "No, no, my dear. Gratitude is not sufficient for me. Especially when I find you so intriguing. And I do believe you are sorely mistaken. You make me sound like a hero when my intentions for you are perhaps worse.”
My stomach bottomed out. “What?” I could barely get the word out.
“I’m going to keep you,” he said, as if he were simply talking about the weather. “That is how you’ll repay the debt.”
Cold dread clogged my throat, and I could barely swallow. “No. Why would you want to keep me?”
His smile widened. “Time magic. Yours attracted me to you.” His gaze flicked up and down my body.
“I was drawn to you the moment you cast the spell on that ingrate. Then I realized you’re the one I’ve heard so much about.
Those who whisper with no lips and watch with no eyes would be keen to know I have the red-haired half-human, half-mage they want so badly. ”
No. This couldn't be happening. I'd run straight into a trap I didn't even know existed, trading Wolfe's cage for something infinitely worse.
Those who whisper with no lips and watch with no eyes.
The dark forces. Apart from the manifestation of Zyrra, that was all we knew about them.
When I read about them in my journal, I was almost grateful I couldn’t remember.
But now I was here. Caught in the heart of the thing everyone was trying to protect me from.
"Please. I just want to go home. I don't—I don't want any of this." My voice came out strangled and desperate, the sound of a person who’d had enough
Erethis laughed out loud, a sound like breaking glass.
"Home? Oh, how delightful." He leaned in, his face mere inches from mine.
"But that's not how this works. The way I see it, I have two choices: I can add you to my collection of dolls—” He waved a hand and illuminated a glass case of…
women. All dead. Eyes wide, as if destined to always see their last moments of life.
I stumbled backward, gasping, and brought a hand to my chest to keep my heart from falling out.
Gods, what horror had I walked into?
“—or I could…” Those eyes became a brighter, sickly shade of red. “…hand you over to the dark ones for a handsome reward. I’m utterly…undecided.”
“Let me go. Now.” I was shit scared but needed to stand my ground and do whatever I could to get out of here.
“No. I will not do that.”
I reached for my magic again, frantically searching for any thread of power I could find.
But like before, I felt nothing.
"Weren’t you paying attention? I told you; I'm a spatial demon." Erethis waved a hand dismissively, like my struggle was mildly entertaining. "Your magic won't work here. And your little time spells fizzled the instant you fell into my lair.”
“Why?”
“This is the Interstice, a pocket within the spatial realm. Outside of time," He gestured to the darkness around us, almost proudly. "Only those of this realm can use magic here. So, yours?" He tilted his head, that cruel smile returning. "Is useless. Nothing you have will work here on me.”
The weight of his words settled over me like a shroud, and I realized just how well and truly fucked I was.
He took a step closer, his red eyes gleaming. “What shall I decide?”
I didn’t answer. I stepped back, not wanting him to be any closer to me.
That didn’t stop him.
He closed the distance between us, and long, scaled fingers tipped with black claws traced the line of my jaw.
I froze. My skin crawled where he touched me, every nerve wanting to tear itself free.
His claws traced down my throat, and that cruel smile widened into something unhinged before he leaned close and inhaled me the way Zerch did.
“Smell that ancient blood. Smell that blossoming power.” His voice pitched higher, giddy with anticipation.
“Get the hells away from me.” I went to shove him, but he caught both my hands with one of his.
"You know what?" He chuckled. "I'm truly, truly fascinated by you, Elariya Grayson.”
Hearing him say my name made my stomach churn. I hated that he knew it when I hadn’t told him. And the way he said it.
“I can't help myself. I simply must see what you can do." He pulled back slightly, his red eyes gleaming with manic delight. "So, here's what we're going to do, little mage. A game.”
“You bastard. I won’t play any of your sick games. Let me go.”
“Ah, but you see, if you win the game, I might consider letting you go.
Three trials. Survive them—if you can—and I'll give you something you want.
Something valuable. Like freedom." He leaned in close, inhaling me again.
"But if you fail?" His grin stretched impossibly wide. "Your soul will belong to me. I’ll help the dark ones with your magic, and when they’re done with you, you’ll become one of my pretty, little soulless dolls. "
Everything in me went still. That awful, ringing kind of still, where the world kept moving but you'd stopped.
I searched his face, fear rippling through me.
What a fucking nightmare.
But once again, I had to try. I couldn’t give up. All would be lost if I did.
“If I win, how do I know you’ll keep your word? You may hand me over anyway.”
He yanked me closer, so close I was pressed against him and I could feel… oh Gods…
Hands. What felt like hundreds were pressing into me.
Erethis must have seen the disgust on my face, because he laughed again, that horrid, glass-shattering rumble that churned my gut.
"The laws of the spatial realm demand its beings remain neutral to ensure fairness." His grin became more nightmarish. "So, when you make a deal here, you honor it. No tricks. No loopholes. Just pure, binding agreement. So, what say ye, my Lady?”
What choice did I really have? “I’ll do it. I’ll play your game, and I want my freedom if I win.”
“Deal.” The word came out like a lover’s whisper, and he closed his eyes for a moment, as if savoring the binding itself. It made me sick.
His hand fell away from my face, and he stepped back.
The moment he released me, the area around us shifted, expanding outward like something alive waking from sleep. The confined space stretched into a vast chamber, the earthy walls pulling back until I couldn't see where they ended.
And then, directly ahead of me, something rose from the ground.
A dais. Black stone, slick as oil.
Atop it was a throne.
A throne made entirely of bones.
Skulls formed the back and arms, their empty eye sockets staring at nothing. Ribs curved into armrests. Femurs and finger bones twisted together in intricate, horrifying patterns.
Erethis crossed the space with inhuman grace and settled onto the throne, draping himself across it like he belonged there. His white hair spilled over his skeletal frame, and those red marble eyes locked onto me.
"Let the first trial begin."
Trial? The bastard really did make it sound like a game.
But the truth was, this was a fight to save my soul.